Quotes About Change: In Life, The World, & Yourself

By Kelsey Schultz, Ph.D. Candidate
​Reviewed by Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.
Change is universal, unavoidable, frequently terrifying, and often beautiful in ways we cannot anticipate. Keep reading for quotes about the challenge and beauty of change in life, the world, and yourself. 
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Change is an inevitable fact of life. The seasons change throughout the year, our bodies change throughout our lives, and the world around us is in constant flux. Despite the ubiquity and necessity of change, it can be frightening and painful. We may seek to avoid change, even if we know it’s for the best. The anxiety that the prospect of change can raise is a character trait of our species, so you aren’t alone if the idea of making changes to your life gets your heart beating a little faster.​
​It is important to remind ourselves of how beautiful change really is, especially when the changes are big, unexpected, or unpleasant. If nothing ever changed, our existence and experience of the world would be tragically limited. Finding purpose or understanding what it means to be a human would be impossible. Reconciling our innate resistance to change with our appreciation of its importance is where quotes about change can come in handy. Quotes about change can help remind us that we are not alone in the pain, grief, and fear that change can evoke and that we are capable of making changes, adapting to change, and living our fullest lives because of change. Here is a collection of quotes about change to help if you need a little help embracing or understanding change in life, the world, and yourself. 

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Quotes About Change in Life

  • “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy
  • "Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody." – Stephen Chbosky
  • “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu
  • “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” – Henri Bergson​​
  • "They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." – Andy Warhol
  • “Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.” – Maya Angelou
  • “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” – Jim Rohn
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Quotes About Change and Growth

  • “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.” – N.R. Narayana Murthy
  • “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” – John Maxwell
  • “Growth and comfort do not coexist.” – Ginni Rometty
  • “In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow
  • “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” – Gail Sheehy
  • "Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream." – Debby Boone
  • “When you embrace change you will begin to see it as an opportunity for growth.” – Jack Canfield
  • “Change is growth. For me it has been a very spiritual and musical rebirth.” – Lenny Kravitz

Short Quotes About Change

  • “There is nothing permanent except change.” – Heraclitus
  • “True life is lived when tiny changes occur.” – Leo Tolstoy
  • “When in doubt, choose change.” – Lily Leung
  • “All great changes are preceded by chaos.” – Deepak Chopra
  • "Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes." – Hugh Prather
  • “The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.” – Barbara Kingsolver
  • “Bending beats breaking.” – Betty Greene

Quotes About a Changing World

  • “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
  • “It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are indeed part of the problem.” – Coretta Scott King
  • "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." – Nelson Mandela
  • “I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.” – Georg C. Lichtenberg
  • “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
  • “How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
  • “Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.” – Eckhart Tolle

Quotes to Change Your Life

  • ​“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama
  • “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin
  • “We must be impatient for change. Let us remember that our voice is a precious gift and we must use it.” – Claudia Flores
  • “Just take any step, whether small or large. And then another and repeat day after day. It may take months, maybe years, but the path to success will become clear” – Aaron Ross
  • “To change one’s life: 1. Start immediately. 2. Do it flamboyantly. 3. No exceptions.” – William James
  • “Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.” – Simone de Beauvoir

Quotes About Embracing Change

  • “There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have found in traveling in a stage coach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in a new place.” – Washington Irving
  • “I have accepted fear as part of life — specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back.” – Erica Jong
  • “We can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea.” – C. Joybell C.
  • “We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.” – Carl Jung
  • “You must welcome change as the rule, but not as your ruler.” – Denis Waitley
  • “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts
  • “The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” – Nathaniel Branden
  • “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” – Helen Keller

Quotes About Change in Life and Moving On

  • “There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis
  • “Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” – Hermann Hesse
  • “It's not about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating they have to be about change.” – Miles Davis
  • “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by discomforts.” – Arnold Bennett
  • “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” – Haruki Murakami
  • “The past can teach us, nurture us, but it cannot sustain us. The essence of life is change, and we must move ever forward or the soul will wither and die.” – Susanna Kearsley
  • “If people refuse to look at you in a new light and they can only see you for what you were, only see you for the mistakes you’ve made, if they don’t realize that you are not your mistakes, then they have to go.” – Steve Maraboli
  • “The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind.” – Kiran Desai

Quotes for Changing Yourself

  • "You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone." – Roy T. Bennett
  • “When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor E. Frankl
  • “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” – Jim Rohn
  • “You’re always you, and that don’t change, and you’re always changing, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” ― Neil Gaiman
  • "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." – Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi
  • “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” – Carl Roger
  • “No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you've come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.” – Madonna
  • “The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Quotes About Change in Love

  • “We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change. And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky.” – Walter Mosley
  •  “I find the best way to love someone is not to change them, but instead, help them reveal the greatest version of themselves.” – Steve Maraboli
  • “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” – Brene Brown
  • “When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you'd like them to be.” – Leo Tolstoy 
  • “Love is such a powerful force. It's there for everyone to embrace-that kind of unconditional love for all of humankind. That is the kind of love that impels people to go into the community and try to change conditions for others, to take risks for what they believe in.” – Coretta Scott King
  • “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.” – Marilyn Monroe
  • “We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.” – W. Somerset Maugham
  • “Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby- awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.” – Lemony Snicket

Quotes About Change in Attitude

  • “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” – Wayne W. Dyer
  • “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw
  • “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.” – Oprah Winfrey
  • “I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
  • “Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.” – Nikos Kazantzakis
  • “Miracles happen every day, change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.” – Jon Bon Jovi

Funny Quotes About Change

  • “Change before you have to.” – Jack Welch
  • “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs
  • “Our ability to adapt is amazing. Our ability to change isn't quite as spectacular.” – Lisa Lutz
  • “Changing is what people do when they have no options left.” – Holly Black
  • “Anyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough.” – Alain de Botton
  • “The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.” – Ellen Glasgow
  • “People are very open-minded about new things, as long as they're exactly like the old ones.” – Charles F. Kettering

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Final Thoughts on Change Quotes

No matter how frightening or painful the changes you are going through are, there is certainly beauty and purpose to be found in them. I hope some of these quotes resonate with you and help guide you through the changes in your life so that you can come out more alive and in love with life on the other side.

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